Shuttle guard



P. c. CONSOLETTI 2,572,111

SHUTTLE GUARD Oct. 23, 1951 2 SHEETSSHEET 1 Filed Dec. 28, 1948 INVENTOR. PAUL C. CONSOLETTI ATTORNEY Patented Get- 23, 1951 UNITED STATES PATENTIQFF'ICE- V SHUTTLE GUARD 1 Paul C. Consoletti, Milford, Mass, assignor to Draper Corporation, Hopedale,

poration of Maine Mass, a cor- Application December 28, 194s,'seria1 No. 67,595

It is a more specific object of the invention to devise a shuttle guard which shall be easily and readily movable from an active shuttle confining position to a raised position in which there is no interference with intended removal of the shuttle or interference withaccess to other parts or to the threads adjacent and at the fell of the fabric being woven.

A further specific object of the invention is that of devising a shuttle guard which shall serve to confine the shuttle to its intended pathway, to prevent escape of the shuttle at the ends of the lay and to eliminate additional parts at the hand rail such as the shuttle deflector carried at the end of that rail.

A further object of the invention is that of devising a shuttle guard which shall employ as a latching means a snap fastener of the axially engageable type so that movement of the guard from an inactive to an active position will serve to latch it in shuttle confining position, that position being retained against any action of the shuttle as the same may tend to escape from the shed due to unintended or unsatisfactory operation of the loom, but which shall permit ready and easy movement of the shuttle guard to a raised or inoperative position whenever the loom attendant so desires;

Other objects of the invention will become apparent from the following more detailed description.

In fly shuttle looms the movement of the shuttle to and fro across the lay and through the shed formed between opposed warp sheets is normally guided only by the lay and the reed so that the shuttle itself is relatively unconfined against movement in a forward direction, and may move upwardly until it. engages the hand rail, although thehand rail itself is not of sumcient width to serve very effectively as a confining means. Normally the to and-fro movement of the shuttle, ifthe loom is operating as intended, is not-:accompanied-by any noticeably erratic movements or-tendency to be thrown fromthe shed, but as is unavoidable at times, some unusual circumstance or circumstances give rise to situations in which the shuttle does tend to fly out of the shed and in these instances, of

course, there is always thedamage to the warp threadsthemselves and if the. loom operator or 13 Claims. (01. 139-193) 2 others are in the immediate vicinity, the shuttle may cause bodily injury. I

In. avoiding the undesired escape of the shuttle from the shed, various types of shuttle guards have been devised, some of which have been employed in actual practice, but most of which have left much to be desired. i According to the present invention, a shuttle guard is provided and attached to the hand rail above the lay of the loom in such manner that it may be-readily raised about a pivot from an active shuttle confining position in which'it' is virtually impossible for the shuttle to escape from the shed, to a relatively inactive position where it permits the weaver to have complete access to the fabric adjacent the fell, to the warp threads in the event he desires to repair broken threads at that point, to the shuttle in the shed,

; to remain in its active position.

In accomplishing the above movement of the guard from active to inactive position, the weaver has only tograspthe shuttle guard at a convenient'pbi'n't andimpart thereto a reasonable force to release the holding means whereupon it may be swung to its uppermost position where it will remain until intentionally moved to active position, or until the loom itself is again started. Thetype of hinge employed involves a particular relationship of parts such that the general movement of the shuttle upwardly or forwardly at a considerable angle merely tends to tighten the engagement of the snap fastener by which the guard is held in position, or else has no appreciable tendency to disengage that fastener. That permits employment of a fastener which is so easily engaged that the mere falling of the. guard into position by tipping it forwardly manually, or by disturbance thereof as the loom starts and'the lay begins to move to and fro, will securely latch the parts in active position,

but which, as will hereinafter be more clearly explained, does not require any manual or other unlatching in addition to raising the movable part of the shuttle guard assembly itself, that being the only manual operation which the weaver must perform in order to render accessible all parts of the loom and fabric at that point.

The hinge and fastener are so related with respect to the position of the shuttle as it slides on is insuflicient to release or disengage the snap 3 fastener. The holding power of-thatsnapfa tener needbe no more than is.- provided come mercially available snap fasteners of the type involved.

The entire assembly may be angularly adjuste.

ed as will later be described by a simple adjusting feature which forms a part oi the attaching means so that the shuttle guard may confine the shuttle as closely as possible without interference with the fabric or warp threadsat the shed and thus, by this adjustment, the mechanism may be easily adapted to looms of varying dimensions and' in which the shuttle shape and size-vary as welras does the angle madeby the warp sheet between the fell'ofthe cloth and the point at" which the warp sheet passes through the reed.

' The invention willbe described in greater detail" in following paragraphs byreference to the accompanying figures of drawing in which a preferred' form of the invention; and modifications thereof have been illustrated:

In the figures:

Fig. 1 is a perspective view ofa conventional fly shuttle loom to which the shuttle guard of the invention has been applied; sufiicient of the parts being illustrated to show the relationship of the shuttle'guard-thereto.

Fig; 21's a section taken through the hand rail of a loom such as shown in Fig. l and showing a preierred form of the invention.

Fig; 3 is; an exploded view illustrating insectionthe partstof theshuttleguard by means of which it is attached to the hand rail and by means of which it may be adjustabiy positioned with respectto the lay and reed;

Fig.4 is a section taken at line 4--4, Fig. 2.

Fig. 5' is a perspective view showing in detail a part of a snap fastener by which the shuttle guard is retained inactive position.

Figs. 6 and '7 are views showing one modified form which the mechanism may take, Fig. 6 illustrating the guard; in inactive position while Fig. '7 shows the parts inactive or shuttle confining position.

Figs. Band 9 are corresponding views showing asecond modification, and

Figs 10 and 11 are similar views showing a still difierent form of the invention, although one in which the generalinventive conceptis substantially the sameas that which is evident in the preferred form and the other modifications,

Now referring to Fig. 1 parts of a loorn to which the shuttle guard of the invention has been appiiedinclude a lay 20, a shuttle box. 2l, a hand rail 22 and a reed 23, these allbeing attached in the usual way adjacent the upper ends of lay. swords, one of which is indicated by numeral 24, and which swing to and fro on the usual pivot for the purpose of beating the filling into the shed of the fabric as is well known to those skilledfin the art A fly shuttle 2'5 ofconventional construction is picked to and fro across the lay being guided along the upper surface of the lay and by the reed so asto pass through the shed formed by the upper warp sheet indicated by numeral 26 and the lower warp sheet '21 which converge forwardly to the fell 28 of the fabric. These warp threads are individually threaded; through heddles 29- retained in the usualmanner within harness, framesSiI-and operable by any convenient type of. harness mechanism for varying the shed in accordance with the particulartype 'of fabric being woven.

The shuttle guard as applied to the loom ill-us- 4 trated in Fig. 1 is compriscdzof two-separate of individual unitsione at.;the left and one at the right side of the loom, but it is to be understood that a single guard may extend across the entire h width of the fabric being woven or may be subdivided into as many separate sections as are desired: Each ofthe; sections here is identical and therefore a description of one will sufifice for both.

In attaching the guard to the reciprocating lay structure, thehand rail serves very conveniently as an attaching point, but it is to be understood thatany other part may be used for attachment of the guard or guards; The attaching means comprisestwoor more hinges for each shuttle guard member itself,- these hinges having. a fixed portion 3| which is more or less permanently bolted or otherwise connected to the hand .rail and amovableorswinging member 32 ivoted at 33 to-the firstcrfixed-membertl. The shuttle con finingmeans is preferably formed of bent tubular or other rod-34- whichmaybe attached in any convenient-manner as by welding plates such as the plate 35* to the rods, Fig. 2, these plates-in turn being riveted or in any other manner connected to the lowermost portion of the movable hinge part 32;

These bent rodmembers are so formed or have such a space between the front and'rear longitu; dinal portions thereof that a shuttle ma not escape betweenthem The ends 36" thereof are carriedaround or formed insuchamanner as to guard or guide the shuttle downwardly and rearwardly towardits, proper. position at the lay in the event it tends to rise upwardly upon its movement from the shuttle boxin passing acrossthe shed to the oppositeend of, the lay, or in the other situation, where the shuttle is just leaving the shed. and is-toenter the shuttlebox at that side, these cross members 36.serve to confine the shuttle to such a pathway thatit must enter the guiding structure-of the ,box itself. Incidentally, there is. no need-for the, usualleatheror other tl efle or: emmenly's d at a d of the hand. railwhere; the shuttle is about to leave the-shed and-.enterthebox,

From an inspection- -ofil ig. I it isqu te apparent thattheslruttle guard, although it serves very efiectively toyclosegofi any space through which the shuttle ,might; escape or fly, out of the shed. does not obstruct:the; weavens view. of the lay, shuttle, warp threadsv or fell of the fabric even when the lay is in its foremost position at which time theshuttie uard tends tooverlie the fell. Of course, when the'guard is-raised to inactive position as shown at the right hand end of Fig. 1, there is. no interference..orobstrnction of view whatsoever and the loom is as freely accessible at that point as. would be the case if therewere no shuttleguard whatsoever.

The details of one particular, and incidentally, a preferred form of the invention are. evident in Figs. 2, :3, 4 and-5, andwhile all of the forms of the invention illustrated herein are generically similar, this particular form of the invention provides for an angulanadjustmentor positioning of theshuttle guard in-a very convenient and effectiveway. The handrail '22-isprovided with arein-forcing strip-31 which extends along most of the length thereofand iS-attached to the-wooden par-t of the hand rail any-convenient manner,- altho-ugh is to understood thatfin some in: stances, metal ha-ml railsmaybe employed and then there is no need forth-is reinforcingor protecting metallic piece. In some instances. the

hinge members may be attached directly to the wooden rail itself. In connecting the hinge parts to the rail, an arcuately formed bracket or hinge member 38 similar to the simple hinge part 3| of Fig. l,is provided with bosses 39 through which are drilled the pivot openings 40, the back or web 4| of the hinge being arcuately formed as at 42 adjacent its uppermost end and being slotted at 43 for the passage of the attaching bolt or screw 44. Complementary pieces are provided at either side of the arcuate part 42 of the hinge, the innermost of these being indicated by numeral 45 while the outer washer or retaining piece 46 has aconcavely formed surface adapted to bear at the opposite side of web 43 from that against which the convex surface of the element 45 bears. I

The parts are clamped in an adjustedposition by a screw 44 tightened against the countersunk washer 4'! which in turn bears against the face of a slot 48 in the washer 46. This latter element also has a sleeve 49 whichextends into the internal bore of the convex washer 45 thereby to center the parts so that'the arcuate portion of the hinge may bear evenl and properly against the concave and convex surfaces between which it is clamped. It is to be understood that the slot 48 isjust wide enough for reception of screw 44 with a resonable amount of clearance and that, since the washer 41 is of much smaller diameter than the diameter of a counterbore 50 within which 'it fits, that the entire assembly may be moved vertically within limits defined by the slot 48, while the'angular adjustment provided by the arcuate web 43 and the convex and concave washers is in eifect, a separate or independent adjustment so that the angle and the vertical position of the guard may be separately variedwithin rather wide limits. The slot 43 is wide enough to encompass the sleeve 49. A number of spaced, tapped holes in the rail or other support, Fig. 1, provide for lateral positioning or adjustment of the guards. Now reverting to Fig. 2 in particular, the lower or movable hinge member 32 is pivoted on a pin 5| which passes through the drilled apertures 40 in lugs 39 at each side of the relatively fixed hinge member and through a sleeve or bushing 52 in the said movable member. This movable member comprises an angular portion including the web 53 extending more or less vertically downward and the web 54 which is preferably disposed at about right angles thereto and"to which the plate 35 or other attaching means for the shuttle confining member itself is fixed. This lower hinge member is shrouded by the side plates or flanges 55 which extend along either side of the web 53 and carry one portion of a snap fastener more particularly illustrated in Figs. 4 and 5 in addition to this Fig. 2. The side flanges 55 serve as stop members forthe movable hinge member when it is swung downwardly so that the guard is in activepoSitidn. These flanges stop against the web 4! of the fixed hinge member and thus, prevent movement too far in that direction. The snap fastener'itself really determines the actual position in which the parts remain.

The snap fastener is of a type to be engaged upon relative movement between the two parts thereof as one slips past the other and which then offers considerable resistance, or makes necessary the application of a reasonable amount of force, before the same may-be withdrawn or separated. The actual construction is such that more force ls normally required to separate the fastener than to interengage or latch it. As herein described and shown, the type of v snap fastener preferably to be'employed is one which makes engagement by axial movement of one part thereof relatively to the other, although there may be some departure from truly axial movement.

The snap fastener comprises two parts, a central ball stud 56 and a spring clip 51. There are various forms of snap fasteners of this type, but that shown here is illustrative of most of them; The ball stud attaches by riveting or may be fixed in any othersatisfactory manner to one of the parts, herein, the web portion 4| of the relatively fixed hinge member, while the spring clip isfixed to the web 53 of the relatively movable hinge member. It is quite apparent that these parts may be reversed without afiecting their general efiicacy. V I

The ball stud fits within the spring pOrtions 58, one at either side of the spring clip which is better shown in Fig. 5. That clip is preferably riveted or attached by screws or bolts to the adjacent portions of the relatively movable hinge member and, as herein shown, the spring clip is attached by screws which are threaded into bosses 59 at each side of the hingemember, these bosses being integral with the flanges 55, previously mentioned.

In operation of the parts, the shuttle guard may be assumed to be in raised or elevated position in which position it tilts back so that the center of its mass lies behind the pivot point, see the right hand guard in Fig. 1, and will not move from that point except upon the starting of the loom or intentional displacement as by the weaver taking the guard and swinging it downwardly. As the loom is started, the rapid movement of the lay will cause the guard to swing forwardly and drop to a position in which it will actively confine the shuttle, that position being retained since the spring clip automatically makes engagement'with the ball portion of the ball stud.

If it is desired to move the shuttle guard to an inoperative position to get it out of the way so that the shuttlemay be removed through the warp threads or so that access to the fell of the fabric may be unobstructed, a smart pull forwardly serves to disengage the clip from the ball stud whereupon the shuttle guard is readily moved to any desired position.

The shuttle confining member 34 actuallylies very close to the warp sheet at the shed and, by the adjustment above described, the clearance between the thread and the tubular members 34 may be reduced to a minimum or to any desired dimension. The angle being variable in-.

dependently of the vertical adjustment, it is apparent that the best operating conditions may,

against, the rearmost bar 34 and that -merely tends to hold the movable portion of the shuttle guard more tightly in its downwardly latched position. That results since the movable shuttle guard parts in falling downwardly to becomev latched, -move wel l p'ast' what may be considere adead center position with respect-to pivot 5+, or well past a positionin which the upward movement or general upward movement against the bar 34- would tend to open the-snap-fastener which eventthedevice might fail" toconfine the" shuttle asintended The shuttle very'seldbm :moves directly forwardly without havih'g anon :si'derable component-d motion inan upward direction and therefore as verifiedby a relatively great number of tests inwh'ich-the shuttle has be'enpurposely displaced, the shuttle guard-as herein described and claimed serves-almost without fail to confine the shuttle withinthe shed and to direct the point'thereoflongitudinally of the shed so that no damage is done" even though the shuttle may be displaced toa point where it would otherwise be thrownentirely out ofthe shed and'olear of the loomf itself The end portions of the shuttle ooh-fining, tu- Bularor other structure designated by nuineral 36'- 'are so-positio'ned that as theshuttle is g'iiided thereby adjacent the ends of the lay,- it may not escape beyond its'intended' pathway in entering the box or in entering the shed? While some variation in its pathway may be evideiitithe point thereofwill be guided below and within-the guard members at the inner end of the shiittle boxso that it must-enter that box rather than being thrown clear, and also upon-leaving the box and entering the shed-,theshuttle-mu'stbe confined between the reed, shuttle guard and the top of. the lay beam.

Now referring to Figs. 6 and 7, a slightly modified form of the invention is evident. The hinges employediin this modification are of pressed steel ori similartpressed metal construction and the attachment of each hinge; member to the-hand rail :is accomplished by means of a screw tllwhich is passed through a slot BI inthef relatively fixed hinge member'BZ which is constructed-as a channel section and is'thus-relatively strong-although easily and cheaply fabricated. The relatively movable hinge member 63- is pivotedat 64 to the side flanges of the other hinge member 62 and the attachment; of the shuttle confining means itself designated by numeral 64 is-accornplished by. rivets 65 or other attaching-means which pass through the bent ends 53 and-5! of the memberfill to enter a plate or other interconnecting and attaching means, for example, the plate 8'8'to which the bars Glare welded or otherwise connected.

As'shown in Fig. 6; the ball stud 69is fixed in thelower end of the hinge part 62. The other" portion of the snap" fastener is rivetdor' other- Wise retained in apart of the relatively'movable hinge 63 formed by offsettingone'en'd' theree of as "illustrated to form a rectangular"spacefor' thespring clip. This ofiset; rectangular enclosure 10 has a holell through'which'th'e ball stud may project for engaging-the spring clip designated by numeral 12' and which may be precisely the same, or is at least generally simi lar,'to that described with respectto' thepreferred form of 'the invention. As the shuttle'guard isdropped to active position the stud will engage the spring clip and hold 'the guard inoperative position until it is foi'cefully 'moved therefrom to be tilted upwardly to anin'active position; Theparts in that position, Fig- 6, are-retained theresince the center of mass lies rearwardly of the .pivot 64, although not so far in that directionibut that upon starting. th'eloom," the move merit-=01 ithelayl will immediately cause it to fall forwa-nclly'v- 1 flow referring to *Figsw and 9} the leihefits illustrated are those of Fig, 1 and-of Figs. 2 5, except ror the fact that there is no adjustment provided" other than that vertical adjustment which is aiiordedhyfthe slot 13' through which the screws-14'- pass" for attaching the hingesto the hand rail. The mechanism is somewhat simp er;- of course, than the adjustable former the invention described relatively to Figs. 2 and 3, arid where angular adjustment is not necessary or desired, thatmodification serves quiteefic ti've'l'y. Here the hinge parts are preferably formed of molded aluminum or other cast metal; although' they' may be fabricated" in other ways if desired In some instances thedimensions and other characteristics of a loom are such that the shuttle confining r'ne'mber iii formed asdescribed with respect to Figs; 1, 6, '7 and'as' in these Figs. '8';and 9 full line views; the end E5 of the shuttle c'onfin} ing member would engage thefadjacent temple as the reed moves forwardly, To avoid that, the tubular rod is bent to the dot-and-dash position 16 whereupon it'will pass above the temple there by avoiding interference, but otherwise serving toconfine theshuttle as previously described. This slight ofisetof the ends of the shuttle con-'- fining rod m'embersdoes not'seriously affect their function. p H I In Figs. IQ and 11, a slightly different form-or hinge is evident in that the relatively' fixed hinge portion 11 is substantially like that illustrated in Figs. 8 and 9, and like that of Fig. 2', except that there is no provision for adjustment; The relatively movable hinge member 18 is of sheet stock angularly' bent to the proper shape" and form and has theshuttle confining member 19 attached to the somewhat horizontally extending angular portion of the hinge in a manner similar to that illustrated in Fig. 2, except that the rivets pass through two thicknesses of sheet material rather than through a piece of sheet or plate and a partof a cast hinge. The ball stud 80 isattached at the'lowe'r portion of the relatively fixed hinge member 11- and engages within" aspr'ing catch 8] which is permanently connected to the more o'r'less' vertically extending part of the hinge l -8., Ahole or opening 82 in the hinge meinbe'r 18 serves to permit entry of the stud flll'for en- .gageme'nt with its spring catch.

In'each of the forms of the invention the general cbiistructi'on is similar, although details vary to an extent; Th guard serves automatically to position itself whenever the loom is started and, since the sna fasteners are s'o'const'ructed that relatively small force is required to effect their 1 engagement; the weight of the parts and the inertia thereof acquired as they fall. assures that 'the g'uardw-ill become'latched in active posi-' tion. Of course-the operator may merely tip the shuttle guard downwardly before starting the loom and effect its active positioning-in thatman-' :n'e'r. The force required to disengage thesnap fasteners, although not 'sufiicient to require an excessive amount of strength on the part of the weaverwnenhe desires to lift the shuttle guard; does however, make certain that any improper action of. the-shuttle will not throw it clear of the-loomi- V p One common fault of'shuttle'guard as heretofore-constructed, some of which have had con ventional latches effective to hold them in position is that these latches or other retaining means become-worm answers noisv Since the s'prin'g catches engage the ball studs with a resiliently applied pressure and since'the ball studs always tend to position the catches in the same relative place, there is little wear and no loosening of parts or shake resulting after a long period of usage.

The construction of each of these shuttle guards permits light metal such a aluminum alloys to be employed and therefore the weight added to the vibrating lay is not great. This is a decided advantage since the lay parts are relatively heavy and it has always been considered desirable to cut down that weight if possible. Additions thereto have been undesirable, and for that reason shuttle guards are not too generally employed. The Weight added by employing the shuttle guard herein described is not suificient to make any particular difierence in the inertia forces set up by the oscillating lay and its attendant parts.

- In this description and in the claims the term snap fastener is used to include all those fasteners employing a ball or similar enlarged portion of a stud which becomes detachably engaged by the spring clips or the like, of a catch. Many of these are commercially available and that herein shown is known as a Tinnerman fastener. The designations active and inactive refer to the lower shuttle guarding position and the raised positions, respectively, of the guard. These fasteners are usually engageable axially or generally so, but it is to be understood that fairly wide variation is possible and that type of fastener may be so engaged that the angle of divergence from axial is quite appreciable.

While one preferred embodiment and certain modifications of the invention have been disclosed, it is to be understood that the inventive concept may be carried out in a number of ways. This application is, therefore, not to be limited to the precise details described, but is intended to cover all variations and modifications thereof falling within the spirit of the invention and the scope of the claims.

I claim:

1. For a fly shuttle loom having a lay, a reed, a hand rail and a shuttle movable along said lay, a shuttle guard attachable to said hand railand comprising a shuttle confining member and hinge means including relatively fixed and relatively movable hinge Parts by which said member is attachable to the hand rail to be swung to and from active and inactive positions, and a mounting means for attaching said relatively fixed hinge parts to the hand rail which comprises means upon which the said hinge parts are slidable vertically of the rail and also angularly movable independently of the said slidable adjustment.

2. For a fly shuttle loom having a lay, a reed, a hand rail and a shuttle movable along said lay, a shuttle guard attachable to said hand rail and comprising a shuttle confining member and hinge means by which said member is attachable to the hand rail to be swung to and from active and inactive positions, and mounting means for said hinge means comprising arcuately faced-washers, a slot in one of said washers through which attaching means may be threaded into the hand rail, said hinge means being similarly arcuate in form and slotted for movement relatively to said washers, said hinge means thereby being vertically adjustable and angularly movable to position the shuttle confining means.

3. For a fly shuttle loom having a lay, a reed, a hand rail and a shuttle movable along said lay, a shuttle guard attachable to said hand rail and comprising a shuttle confining member and hinge means by which said member is attachable to the hand rail to be swung to and from active and inactive positions, said hinge means comprising relatively fixed and movable hinge members, said relatively fixed hinge member having an arcuately formed part thereof by means of which it may be clamped to said hand rail, abutting means, one at either side of said arcuately formed portion of said hinge means and between which the hinge means may be positioned at relatively dif-' ferent angles with respect to the lay and reed of a loom, a slot in one of said abutting means, and a threaded attaching member passed through said slot for clamping the parts in an adjusted position.

4. For a fly shuttle loom having a lay, a reed, a hand rail and a shuttle movable along said lay; a shuttle guard attachable to said hand rail and comprising a shuttle confining member and hinge means by which said member is attachable to the hand rail to be swung to and from active and inactive positions, said 'hinge means comprising relatively fixed and relatively movable parts one of which is hingedly pivoted to the other, a snap fastening means between said hinge parts for retaining them in one extreme position, and an adjustable connection between said relatively fixed hinge parts and a supporting portion of the loom lay assembly which comprises means permitting vertical adjustment of the hinge means and shuttle confining member, and independently thereof, an angular movement of the relatively fixed hinge member thereby to vary the angle of the shuttle confining member with respect to the lay and reed.

5. For a fiy shuttle loom having a lay, a reed, a hand rail and ashuttle movable along said lay, a shuttle guard attachableto said hand rail and comprising a shuttle confining member and hinge means including relatively fixed and movable parts by which said member is attachable to the hand rail to be swung to and from active and inactive positions, and a mounting means' for said relatively fixed hinge means on which it may be independently moved both vertically and angularly with respect to the lay, and axially enand com risin a shuttle confining member and hin e means by which said member is attachable to the hand rail to be swung to and from active and inactive positions, said hinge means comprising relatively fixed and relatively movable parts one of whichis hingedly pivoted to the other, said relatively fixed hinge parts being at-' tachable to the hand rail and the said relatively movable hinge parts having attached thereto the. shuttle confining member, means for releasably latchin the relatively movable hinge parts to retain the shuttle confinin member in its active position, and said hinge pivots being so, disposed with respect to the latching means and shuttle:

confining member that the movable parts are moved throughout a considerable angle beyond a dead center position before the shuttle.con-,

fining member reaches its active position so that as a shuttle tends to escape from its intended pathway, pressure thereof Y against the shuttle confining member tends to retain the parts more tightly in their latched position.

7. Fora fly shuttle loom having a lay, a reed, a hand rail and a shuttle movable alongsaid' day, a shuttle guard attachable :to ,said hand rail and comprising a shuttle confining member and hingermeans including relatively fixed and movable hinge members, the said relatively fixed hinge members being attachable to the hand rail findgthe movable hinge members being pivoted to the fixed members to permit the shuttle confining'imember to be swung to and "from active and inactive positions, latchingmeans comprising a snap fastener for retaining the movable hinge members and shuttle confining .means carried thereby in an active position, the said shuttle con-fimng means, ;snap fastener and the hinge pivot being so relatively positioned with respect to the lay and reed of the loom that pressure of ashuttle against the shuttle confining member asit-atends to escape irom'its intended pathway urgesthe shuttle nonfining member and movable hingemeans into :azmore tightly latched position. 8.-:For -a. fly rshuttle :-loom having a -lay, a reed, ai -hand rail and a shuttle movable along said la y, -,a:shuttle guard attachable to said hand rail and comprising a shuttle confining member and hinge ineanscomprising relatively fixed and movable hinge parts by which said member is attachable :to the hand rail to be swung to and from {active and inactive positions, a portion of said relatively fixed hinge part extend-ing into overlapping relationship tosaid relatively movable hinge part, and means ior releasably retaining said shuttle confining member in active position which comprises an axially engageable snap fastener the engagement and disengagemerit of which-is confined to a plane normal to the axis about which the hinge parts-pivot, said snap fastener comprising two elements which offer greater resistance to disengagement than to engagement; hne said element being fixed to the movable hinge apart and the other to the overlapping extending portion of the .said relatively fixed hinge part.

For a fly shuttle loo-m having a lay, a reed, ahand rail and a shuttle movable along said lay, ashuttle guard attachable to said hand rail and comprising-a shuttle confining ,membera-nd hinge means each of which comprises two articulate hinge parts by which said member is attachable to the hand rail to be swung to and "from active and inactive positions, and means for releasably retaining said shuttle confining member inactive position which comprises an axially engageable fastening member including a ball stud fixed to one hinge part and a-spring-eatch axiallynen gageable with said ball stud other hinge part.

-10. For any shuttle loom having a lay, a reed, a hand rail and a shuttle'movable along said .lay, a shuttle guard attachable to said handrail and comprising a, shuttle confining member and hinge means each of which comprises two articulated hinge parts by which said member it attachable to the hand rail to be swung to and from active and inactive positions, and mounting means for said hinge means upon which it may be vertically and angularly adjusted, and means for retaining the movable parts of said hinge means and the shuttle confining member attached thereto in an active position which comprises a snap fastener including aball stud fixed to one hin e part and aispring catch axially engageable with said ball stud and fixed to the other hinge part.

11. For a fly shuttle loom having a lay, a reed, a hand rail and a shuttle movable along said lay, a, shuttle guard attachable tosaid hand rail and comprising ashuttle confining member and hinge.

and fixed to the means :comprising two articulated hinge parts, one of which is relatively fixed and the other of which is relatively movable, by whichsa-idmemher is attachable to the hand rail to beswung to and from active and inactive positions, and mounting means for said, hinge means upon which it may be vertically :and :angularly aadjusted, saidmounting means comprising an armate web portion .of the relatively fixed hinge part attachable to the hand .rail and complementary convex and concave abutting members through one of which is passed attaching means and :upon which the said arcuategportion of thehinge part may be moved to vary the angle thereof with respect to the lay when said connecting means is loosened,- and snap .fastening means by which said movable hinge parts and the shuttle confining means are retainedzin active position, said snap fastening means includinga ball stud :attached to one hinge part and a spring-eatchattached to the other, said :ball stud and spring catch being axially engageable :upon movement of the said shuttle confining member to active position and releasable by the application of axially applied force.

1 2. Mounting means forattaching a shuttle guard to the hand rail of a loom comprising hinges including relatively fixed and movable hinge parts, each said relatively'fixed hinge part having an arcuate web portion by which it is clamped in a fixed, adjusted position, abutting means complementary to said arcuate web por-- tion comprising washers one of which has a concave surface and the other 'Of'-'-WhlCh has a convex-surface, an attaching threaded means passing through said washers, an elongated slot in :one washer through which the .said attaching means is passed and against the iaceof which it bears for urging the parts into clamping engagement.

13. Mounting and retaining means for a. shuttle guard for looms comprising hinges including relatively fixed and relatively movable hinge members, pivot means between said' hinge members and a slot in each relatively fixedhin'ge member through which connecting means passed and by :means of which vertical adjustment of the shuttle guard may be effected, and latching means for retaining-the relatively movable hinge members and that portion of the shuttle guard .for confining the shuttle within its intended pathway, in an active position, includinga snap fastener, said snap fastener comprising a ball stud fixed to one hinge member and a spring catch fixed to the other and positioned for axial engagement of said ball stud.

PAUL C. 'CONSOLETI'I.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the ills of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 145,763 Stevens Dec. 23, 1873 171,416 Parker Dec. 21, 1875 1,596,267 Holmes Aug. 17, 1926 2,322,643 Jones June 22, 1943 2,396,780 Gill et al Mar. 19, 1946 2,439,000 Hasenzahl Apr. 6, 1948 2,480,645 'Gourlay Aug. 30, 1949 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date Great Britain of 1908,,- 

